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Energy issues in the building sector become more and more important nowadays. Although the technology improves, the energy consumption remains the same because of people’s way of living. To reduce the energy consumption, it is possible to improve the technical components that form the building envelope and to change people’s habits. This report aims at determining the best measurement methodology of the heating and hot water consumption of a building to insure real-time visualization and evaluating the energy savings that could be made by changing people habits. To do so, an existing measurement methodology is analyzed by making error calculations and computer-based modeling and simulations are carried out to determine the heating consumption of the building under different conditions. The program DesignBuilder is used to assess the energy consumption of the building. The study shows that a consequent reduction of the heating consumption is possible by only changing people’s habits. Real-time visualization would be really helpful but it needs very accurate measurements that are almost impossible if they are not integrated in the first stages of the building process.

Digital advertising has seen dramatic growth over the last decade. Total digital ad spending in the US has increased 6 times between 2010 and 2020, from $26 billion to $152 billion(eMarketer). This impressive development has in turn sparked a huge stream of literature studying all the different aspects of advertising in the digital media. My dissertation contributes to this literature via two essays. In the first essay, I consider a very important topic of ad blocking, that in the recent years has become a significant threat to advertising supported content. With a specific focus on consumer and total welfare, I show the detrimental role of the adblockers’ current revenue model in decreasing content quality, consumer surplus and total welfare. In the second essay, I study demand learning in digital advertising markets, where firms learn over time how their advertising campaigns impact consumer demand by using their advertising campaign outcomes in earlier periods. By developing an analytic model, I demonstrate in several scenarios, such as monopoly and competition, that learning has an ambiguous effect on the key market parameters and, in particular, on the equilibrium advertising and quantities.

Nutrition education programs in the prevention of chronic diseases has flourished over the last 15 years. Investigators continue to demonstrate that soy consumption plays a role in decreasing chronic diseases such as cardiovascular disease, cancer, osteoporosis and problems regarding menopause. Although research focuses on soy benefits regarding chronic disease, to date, no program exists focusing on soy consumption.164 surveys distributed to 18-65 year-olds in Southwest Virginia assessed the population's chronic disease knowledge and information sources regarding soy foods and three nutrition education programs. Purchases of and opinions on soy products along with 62 single-blind taste evaluations comparing soy and non-soy taste preferences were assessed. 73.4% of the population sample knew at least one of three nutrition programs while 37.1% knew soy's relationship to chronic disease. Information sources for both were significantly (p<.006) higher for magazines and newspapers. Health and belief of not liking the taste of soy were significant (p<.017) reasons influencing purchase of soy foods. Tofu and soy burgers were consumed significantly (p<.001) more than other soy foods. No significant (p>.05) difference in preference was found between all cookies and muffins. Women knew significantly (p<.04) more about soy than men. Knowledge about soy was significantly (p<.03) correlated with soy consumption.Results indicate a need for soy education and consumption in preventing chronic diseases. Target populations should focus on non-Asians, males, 18-24 years, with less than a college education level. Implementing a soy education program in preventing chronic diseases is feasible, necessary, and cost-effective. / Master of Science

The high rates of obesity and impaired glycemia in older adults place these individuals at risk for developing diabetes. Dehydration, glucose tolerance, and insulin resistance are related. Many older adults do not achieve the Dietary Reference Intake (DRI) for water, and aging and dehydration are both associated with decreased glucose tolerance. Conversely, weight loss is associated with improvements in glucose tolerance. For older adults following a hypocaloric diet, additional water consumption may lead to greater weight loss. Furthermore, research suggests an association between insulin resistance and arginine vasopressin (AVP), the hormone responsible for regulating body water retention. Analysis of the association between plasma copeptin (an AVP derivative) and fasting glucose, insulin, and homeostasis model assessment of insulin resistance (HOMA-IR) may provide further insight into the relationship between dehydration and diabetes risk. To our knowledge, few investigations have addressed this relationship between dehydration, impaired glycemia, and insulin resistance and how increasing water consumption may influence diabetes risk. Our purpose was to investigate the possibility that increased water consumption among older adults (n=29, BMI=31+1 kg/m2, age=62+1 years) could improve glycemia beyond that observed with weight loss, as well as associations between plasma copeptin and diabetes risk. Analysis of diabetes-related variables for subjects grouped according to study intervention group, amount of drinking water consumed, or pair-matched for weight loss and gender did not reveal significant differences between groups. Improvements in fasting insulin for water group participants, as well as correlations between hydration and insulin resistance support the need for future investigations. / Master of Science

Philosophiae Doctor - PhD / Light olefins are some of the main raw materials for the petrochemical industry. With the rise in oil prices and increasing demand for olefins, there is an increasing interest in finding cheaper alternatives for processes in the petrochemical industry (PETROSA 2017). Research into the dehydrogenation of light alkanes has received significant attention. This dehydrogenation process represents a route to obtain olefins from inexpensive hydrocarbon feedstocks. The use of inexpensive hydrocarbons as a feedstock in the petrochemical industry could reduce the dependence on oil. Commercially used catalysts based on chromium or platinum have major disadvantages, including the harmful effects of chromium and the high cost of platinum, which limit their application to a certain extent. Therefore, research into developing efficient dehydrogenation systems using environmentally friendly and inexpensive metals have become highly desirable. Sulfide-containing metal catalysts have gained significant research interest for use in the dehydrogenation process and display interesting catalytic activity. / 2024

Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) / Two impulsivity-related traits, negative and positive urgency (i.e., the tendency to act rashly in the face of extreme negative and positive emotions, respectively) are important risk factors for alcohol use escalation during college and for problematic and disordered level alcohol use, in part through increasing motives for alcohol use. The majority of research to date has focused on the causal direction from trait to motives to alcohol consumption. The goal of the current study was to conduct an initial test of how continued and escalating alcohol use may drive increases and shifts in positive and negative urgency, and how such changes drive subsequent increased drinking motives over the first year of college. Data were analyzed using an archival dataset of 418 first-year college students (age 18-21) enrolled in an introduction to psychology course at a large Midwestern university. Participants were sampled at three timepoints: at the beginning of the fall semester, the end of the fall semester, and the end of the spring semester. A series of hierarchical multiple regression and mediation analyses were used to test study hypotheses. Changes in alcohol use did not predict later changes in positive and negative urgency. Results did replicate previous research showing that changes in positive and negative urgency predicted later changes in drinking motives. Finally, there was some evidence that alcohol use at baseline predicted changes in enhancement drinking motives through changes in positive urgency; but this pattern was not seen with negative urgency. This work extends existing work with urgency theory, which has primarily focused on the effects of urgency on subsequent alcohol consumption and not the inverse. The fact that alcohol use drives subsequent changes in positive urgency and drinking motives can help to better identify mechanisms contributing increased risk for transition to problematic levels of alcohol consumption, can lead to better identification of those at risk for problematic alcohol use and can set the stage to better integrate urgency theory with other well-established alcohol risk models.

The doctoral thesis is describing the problematic of motion parameters influences on energy consumption during robot operation. The basic methods of robot programming are characterized and evaluated in the introductory part and with help of mathematical models the influence of specific parameters is explained. The experimental verification of mathematical models was performed in the laboratory of Institute of Production Machines, Systems and Robotics at Brno University of Technology. The measure results are arranged in tables from which final evaluation and recommendation for praxis follows.

A research report submitted in partial fulfilment to the degree Master of Arts in Development Studies in the School of Sociology, University of the Witwatersrand, March 2018 / This research report explores the relationship between migration, food and space in Yeoville, a suburb that has become emblematic of African diasporic settlement in Johannesburg. The report seeks to answer this broad question: What role does the sale, preparation and consumption of food have in the everyday cultural, social and economic lives of African migrants living in Yeoville? To answer it this study has focused on two locations. The first is the Yeoville market, a central point for the exchange and consumption of food for African migrants in Yeoville and Johannesburg. The second location is Araya Supermarket, an Ethiopian owned shop and restaurant. This study argues that through an engagement with these spaces migrants are able to recreate a sense of ‘home’. This is made possible through the layout and familiarity of products, the practice of routine and ritual eating and the relationships which are fostered in these places. This study argues that various changes have occurred in food practices as a result of migrants’ displacement. At the same time migrants have been active in the adaptation of recipes, cooking methods and ingredients to ensure they get the food they want and need. This study shows the social importance of food and eating for migrants and the resulting local and transnational relationships which allow these food enterprises to function. Finally, it argues that these places have a significant role in the economic advancement and opportunities migrants have access to, while still being largely precarious and exploitative pursuits. / XL2019

Among the basal bony fishes, the American paddlefish (Polyodon spathula) has a unique respiratory strategy of ram-ventilation. However, despite the increasing problems caused by hypoxia in natural habitats occupied by this species, little information exists about their response to hypoxia. Four studies were conducted to examine the physiological and biochemical responses of juvenile paddlefish (150-181 g) to acute and chronic hypoxia. Acute hypoxia tolerance, aerobic metabolic rates and swimming capabilities of paddlefish in an intermittent respirometer or swim flume were evaluated under normoxic (partial pressures of oxygen [pO2] =140 mm Hg) and hypoxic (pO2 =62 mm Hg) conditions at 18 °C and 26 °C. Additionally, blood oxygen transport, blood acid-base balance and metabolic stress were evaluated in paddlefish independently exposed to 4 different pO2s: normoxia =148 mm Hg, mild hypoxia =89 mm Hg, moderate hypoxia =59 mm Hg and extreme hypoxia =36 mm Hg, at 21°C. Blood samples were collected from paddlefish after they had been exposed to treatment pO2’s for 0.25, 2, 6, 24 and 72 hours, and analyzed for hematocrit, pO2, total oxygen content, pCO2, pH, hemoglobin, Na+, K+, Ca2+, Cl-, glucose, lactate, etc. A third study used 1-D and 2-D J-resolved 1H NMR to analyze metabolite changes in muscle tissue of paddlefish exposed to normoxia (148 mm Hg), or acute (0.25 h) or chronic (72 h) moderate hypoxia (59 mm Hg). The last study examined the effect of moderate hypoxia (pO2: 59 mm Hg) and subsequent recovery in normoxia (pO2: 148 mm Hg) on plasma cortisol, blood oxygen transport, blood acid-base balance, metabolic, ion-osmoregulation and enzyme parameters in paddlefish. The results indicate that paddlefish have a critical pO2 of 74 mm Hg at 18 °C and 89 mm Hg at 26 °C and a lethal oxygen threshold of ~2 mg/ L. Sensitive to moderate hypoxia, death occured after 3-8 hours of extreme hypoxia. Paddlefish have reduced capacity for metabolic depression and, as a result, survival in hypoxia is limited due to a reduction in both aerobic and anaerobic (glycogen and glucose) energy stores as well as the accumulations of toxic H+ and lactate. Nonetheless recovery is possible.